ABSTRACT
The Development Fund has established a programme on agro-biodiversity and climate change adaptation. One of the key strategies in the Development Fund's programme is to work with farmers and their organizations to conserve, use and develop agricultural biodiversity on farm. The Development Fund is supporting initiatives, such as community seed banks and participatory plant breeding, as ways to increase on-farm genetic diversity and local seed security. The community seed bank emerged as a collective approach to strengthening local capacity to conserve, use and develop crop genetic resources. Women are closely involved in Development Fund-supported activities at the grassroots level: as selectors, preservers and traders of seed. In most countries where the Development Fund is active, the policy and legal environment is not very supportive of local seed systems. The Development Fund works with networks at various levels local, national and international to promote smallholder farmer friendly policies and the realization of farmers' rights.
